[Reader-list] Combative Indian magazine struggles to sell 'badnews'

[radhikarajen at vsnl.net]

In any democratic society, media is considered as fourth pillar upholding 
the freedom of free society and is respected for the work. Journalists are 
respected and honoured for their impartial work in journalism of reporting 
the news as it is, without the added masala of partisan views on news.

  However recent trend in media has been that was of more partisan reportage 
suiting the political outfit they are sponsored with. The sponsorship is 
many times indirect, with advertisements of PSUs and governance controlled 
ventures. many times it is indirect, with "well wishers of the political 
outfits sponsoring the advertisements with attached strings.
  Thehelka lost credibilty in the eyes of the viewers when it did not 
hesitate to use sex and sex workers which is quite a common weakness of all 
, say almost all humans for sensuous pleasures.Its own reporter in a press 
club at kerala, was boasting of the good times he had with his work in 
tehelka days. !
  More to be precise, the editor seems to be having very soft corner for 
some political party with most corrupt leaders in it, may be he scared to 
take on the might of violent goon brigades of such parties.
Many channels did a mayajal, to immediately resort to complete silence later 
when the goon brigades retorted with violent acts. ?
Lalu Yadav is always good with media to use the media for his spins, but not 
even one expose" of his adventures are  visible in media may be because he 
believes in his danda more than democratic rights. ?
  Ofcourse much mud slinging which does not stick is done against BJP and 
sangh parivar, but inspite of having the power, they are too decent even on 
channels for debate or discussions, but when it comes to Congress, Tarun is 
positively scared of its power of goon brigade also known as youth wing with 
leaders of the kind, Kamalnath,Jagadeesh Tytler, Sajan kumar, Hariprasad who 
have noteworthy records of sorts which are really worth coverage in stings. 
?Ofcourse what happened to 300,000 oil coupons given to party along with 
coupons of natwar singh, and tarun seems to be selective in his stings ?
  This was not the scene in earlier days with chitra Subramaniam doing the 
wonderful investigation in Bofors scam, but those days tv was state 
controlled, later even the midnight visit of additional solicitor general to 
London without the knowledge of the highest court to defreeze the accounts 
of uncle Q was not matter of a sting  for tarun, so much of journalistic 
ethics. !
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nitesh Bhatnagar" <nitbhag at gmail.com>
To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 4:28 PM
Subject: [Reader-list] Combative Indian magazine struggles to sell 'bad 
news'


> Combative Indian magazine struggles to sell 'bad news'
>
> By Sonia Phalnikar
> Sunday, January 27, 2008
> http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/27/technology/mag28.php
>
>
> NEW DELHI: A glance at a newsstand in any major Indian city reveals a
> media market in the midst of a boom. There are frothy tabloids, slick
> business papers, racy Bollywood glossies and lifestyle magazines, with
> new titles hitting the stands every week. Advertisers are shoveling
> out cash and foreign investors are stampeding in.
>
> But the news is not as good for the country's boldest English-language
> news magazine, Tehelka. The crusading independent weekly is struggling
> to expand and take a bigger slice of a highly competitive print
> market.
>
> Like many anti-establishment publications around the world, Tehelka
> has garnered only lukewarm support from advertisers and relative
> disinterest from readers more interested in upbeat news.
>
> Tehelka, which means "sensational" in Hindi, has lived up to its name
> with hard-hitting investigations that have often used undercover
> cameras to confront officials and expose corruption. Its crusading
> reports also focus on the downtrodden of India.
>
> After beginning as a Web site in 2000, Tehelka rocked the country the
> next year with a sting operation in which its reporters secretly
> filmed senior politicians and army officers taking bribes and, in some
> cases, consorting with prostitutes. The scandal forced top
> politicians, including the defense minister, to resign.
>
> "Tehelka has pioneered a new kind of journalism in India," Anil
> Dharker, a media critic and columnist who has edited several Indian
> publications, said. "It has forced other papers to investigate more
> and become more competitive in their reporting."
>
> But shortly after the bribery scandal broke, a government-appointed
> inquiry turned its focus on Tehelka. Reporters were arrested and
> questioned and the Web site's main financial backer was imprisoned for
> two months. Tax raids and judicial investigations followed, and its
> staff fell from 120 to three. The site went into debt and finally out
> of business.
>
> In early 2004, Tehelka emerged from the rubble as a reader-financed
> weekly newspaper. Calling itself the "People's Paper" and promoting
> what it called "free, fair and fearless" journalism, it was, and still
> is, backed by the intellectual and social elite - writers, lawyers,
> businesspeople and activists. Arundhati Roy, Shashi Tharoor and V.S.
> Naipaul lined up to support it. More than 200 people became
> founder-subscribers by paying 100,000 rupees, or $2,500, to be
> associated with the venture.
>
> "Tehelka attracts a very affluent, influential, well-educated
> readership in India, which could potentially be very attractive to
> both investors and advertisers," Harjinder Singh-Heer, a media analyst
> based in London, said.
>
> From its offices in a swank south Delhi neighborhood, Tehelka's staff
> of about 45 journalists combines vigorous reporting, interviews and
> straight analysis with essays and columns by high-profile writers and
> intellectuals.
>
> "It is crucial to bring stories of people who will never read a
> magazine to those who ought to be made aware of them," said Tarun
> Tejpal, the paper's founder and editor in chief, a charismatic
> 44-year-old who has worked for and edited several major Indian
> magazines.
>
> The weekly's hallmark remains its sting operations. The footage is
> often sold to national television channels.
>
> "That's why people who will never read a magazine in English in India
> will still have heard of Tehelka," said Shreekant Khandekar, a media
> analyst who said the method also provided a clever marketing tool.
>
> Last year, a Tehelka reporter spent six months undercover in the
> western state of Gujarat, where more than 2,000 Muslims were killed
> during a pogrom in 2002. The undercover footage showed Hindu
> nationalists confessing to murder and rape. The transcripts were
> published in November. The next issue, headlined "India Writes Back,"
> contained only reader mail, most expressing deep shock. Nonetheless,
> the chief minister of the state, Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist
> who was implicated in the sting, was re-elected last month.
>
> The weekly's fame, however, has done little to help lift its financial
> fortunes. Tehelka has been hampered by a cash crunch. With a budget of
> close to $3 million last year, according to Tejpal, the loss last year
> was under $1 million.
>
> Tehelka, which sells around 75,000 to 90,000 copies a week and has a
> subscriber base of about 30,000, attracts few advertisements. Its
> 106-page special issue on the Gujarat massacre featured just three
> ads. Last year, ad revenue came to around $750,000, Tejpal said.
>
> Its main rivals - the English-language political news magazines
> Outlook, India Today and The Week - are backed by large media groups
> and, in one case, a business conglomerate. The market leader, India
> Today, has a circulation of 1.1 million each week and a readership of
> more than 15 million, according to its Web site.
>
> To bolster its position with potential advertisers and improve its
> visibility on newsstands, Tejpal reinvented Tehelka once again in
> September and changed the tabloid-format newspaper into a magazine. He
> said the new look has already increased interest from advertisers.
>
> But Tejpal acknowledged that Tehelka's tendency to rock the boat might
> still put off investors. "There's a certain reluctance to be
> associated with us because we are seen as people who create trouble
> and get into the wrong side of money and power," Tejpal said.
>
> The problem is not confined to India. Around the world in emerging
> economies with troubling records on press freedom, the critical,
> independent media are failing to sell ads.
>
> "Advertisers and big business houses in many developing countries
> often don't want to take the risks involved with doing critical and
> investigative stories," said Vincent Brossel, head of the Asia desk at
> Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog based in Paris.
>
> The first Malaysian independent news Web site, Malaysiakini - or
> Malaysia Now - has faced government raids and its reporters are
> routinely harassed, according to its founder, Steven Gan. It is
> financed primarily by 10,000 subscribers who pay $5 a month to view
> the site. Though it has made a small profit in past years, Gan said
> attracting advertising was a struggle.
>
> "In Malaysia, there's a nexus between politicians and companies," he
> said. "Since we report critically on the government, we're not getting
> a lot of advertisements."
>
> Likewise, Radomir Licina, senior editor of the left-of-center Serb
> daily Danas, or Today, which was set up in 1997 by a group of
> journalists and still owned by them, said the newspaper had stopped
> getting advertisements from companies whose business practices were
> criticized in its reporting.
>
> Undeterred, Tejpal is again taking Tehelka into new territory. To
> reach a wider audience, he recently introduced a Hindi language Web
> site. About 180 million Indians are estimated to consider standard
> Hindi as their native tongue. There are plans to expand the content to
> other Indian languages.
>
> "We want to have a louder voice, be more visible and revive public
> discourse that's touched rock-bottom levels in this country," Tejpal
> said.
>
> In his search for a cash injection, Tejpal is engaged in his first
> professional round of financing with Indian investors, with a target
> of $5 million to $10 million. Over the years, he has mainly raised
> capital from personal contacts by diluting equity in his media
> company, Agni Media, which owns Tehelka. He remains the single largest
> shareholder.
>
> Tehelka may yet strengthen its foothold in the media, but some doubt
> whether its overtly political message fits the zeitgeist in modern
> India.
>
> "Psychologically, Indians are on such a high with the economy
> booming," Dharker, the media critic, said. "They are in no mood to
> hear bad news. And that's what Tehelka offers."
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